School's seniors worry that grade probe will affect their chances for college

By Helen Gao and Sherry SaavedraSTAFF WRITERS

September 15, 2007

NADIA BOROWSKI SCOTT/ Union-Tribune

Cecil Lytle, a UCSD professor and chair of the Preuss board of directors, has set up an office at Preuss to answer questions from parents and provide support to the charter school's staff members while university auditors investigate.

LA JOLLA –
An investigation into possible academic impropriety at the prestigious Preuss School at the University of California San Diego focuses on about 100 grades, including some that were reportedly changed from F's into passing marks, a school official said yesterday.

The new details were provided by Cecil Lytle, chairman of the Preuss board of directors and a founder of the university-affiliated public charter school, which is overseen by the San Diego Unified School District.

The investigation has Preuss seniors worried that their chances of getting into college could be affected. Many students and parents are also concerned about the damage to Preuss' reputation, regardless of the outcome of the probe.

Lytle, a UCSD professor, has set up an office at Preuss to answer questions from parents and provide general support to the staff while university auditors conduct the investigation. The audit is expected to be finished next month.

Principal Doris Alvarez, a nationally recognized educator, and Phil Ensberg, an academic adviser and Alvarez's son-in-law, were put on leave this week. That was done to “protect UCSD from a future accusation that their presence influenced the outcome of the audit review,” according to a letter sent to parents Thursday.

The letter said the action “does not imply any finding of wrongdoing.”

NADIA BOROWSKI SCOTT / Union-Tribune

Students were dropped off outside the Preuss School yesterday. Auditors are investigating allegations that some grades were tampered with, including F's turned into passing grades.

Located near Scripps Memorial Hospital off Genesee Avenue in La Jolla, the Preuss School serves about 780 students in sixth through 12th grade. It has won national accolades for preparing disadvantaged students for college. Newsweek magazine ranked Preuss one of the top 10 high schools in America, and the Center for Education Reform named Preuss one of 53 National Charter Schools of the Year.

During an interview at the school's library yesterday, Lytle said auditors are scrutinizing summer school grades. One of the allegations is that students who didn't attend summer school received credit. Another allegation is that grades were mixed up and students enrolled in certain courses were given grades in other courses.

He could not say how many students' grades are under scrutiny. Auditors have not found any evidence of student involvement in the irregularities, some of which are attributed to computer problems.

Auditors are trying to match grades on student transcripts against teachers' grade books.

Seniors, who are working on their college applications, are worried that colleges will look at their transcripts with skepticism. Lytle said Preuss is trying to recruit a specialist to help students with college applications.

“It's not a very good thing to have when you are applying to college,” said senior Bobby Barnhart, who has been at Preuss since sixth grade.

“The big discussion at school was that all the senior students are getting a bad reputation when they try to apply to college,” said junior Sascha Nowlin, who doesn't believe the allegations are true. “They worry that colleges will take all this into account when they look at their transcripts.”

Students also worry about the effect on donations. The school has an annual $6.5 million budget and raises a little more than $1 million a year to pay for expenses, such as busing students to the school. Lytle said major donors have been apprised of the situation, and many remain supportive.

“We're afraid that people won't help us anymore,” said junior Alyssa Carty. “A lot of students are worried that having all these allegations is going to stop people from donating and giving us all these opportunities.”

One donor, the Jack in the Box Foundation, declined to comment on the investigation but spoke highly of the school.

“We're very supportive of the Preuss School and extremely proud of the positive impact the school has had on the lives of so many deserving children in San Diego,” said Kathleen Anthony, a spokeswoman for Jack in the Box Inc.

Peggy and Peter Preuss, for whom the school is named, did not return calls made to their foundation.

The charter school community is withholding judgment pending the outcome of the investigation.

“Doris has a tremendous amount of integrity,” said Gary Larson, spokesman for the California Charter Schools Association, who has known Alvarez for six years. “She's an amazing individual. She's consistently over the decades delivered quality education to disadvantaged kids.”

Mark Weaver, spokesman for the Center for Education Reform, said the national organization would be closely following the investigation. He said the school deserved the recognition from his organization.

“When we do an evaluation for a charter school, we look at more than a dozen different categories, most of which have nothing to do with the allegations in this case – parent satisfaction, quality of facilities, strength of partnerships,” Weaver said. “For example, UCSD is a particularly strong partner.”

But academic achievement is also a factor, he said.

Parents who were interviewed yesterday as they were dropping their children off for school were only vaguely aware of the turmoil. Some learned about it from newspaper and television reports. Others heard about it from their children.

Students said teachers talked to them about the situation, but business is going on as usual at the school. Representatives from a long roster of colleges and universities, including Princeton, Columbia, Duke and Harvey Mudd, are scheduled to visit Preuss to recruit students in the coming month.

“It just seems normal, like nothing has happened. I am pretty sure it will calm down in the next few days,” said ninth-grader Jose Bobadilla.